Australian swimming great Ariarne Titmus has announced her shock retirement from competitive swimming at the age of 25, saying the "time feels right to step away".

Titmus's decision is an unexpected move from the 25-year-old, but one that has been met with tremendous support since she announced it on her Instagram at around 9am on Thursday.

The freestyle swimmer said she could walk away happy knowing she left no stone unturned in her career.

She picked up gold in the 200m freestyle and 400m freestyle in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympics and repeated her feats in the 400m at Paris last year, as well as being a part of the successful 4x200m freestyle team.

She also has three silver medals and a bronze medal across her two Olympics appearances.

In her retirement post on Instagram, Titmus wrote

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